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The Mortal Kombat series still possesses numerous undisclosed elements and the ability to amaze, more than 30 years after its original launch in gaming halls. A new collection spanning the brand's formative years, which includes four arcade games, multiple console adaptations, and related titles, transcends only a accurately simulated collection of iconic titles along with lesser-known entries — it's also a detailed chronicle about the development of the legendary series.

Being a long-time Mortal Kombat fan who has closely monitored its origins and transformation, there was numerous fresh aspects for me to discover and admire about the series.

What Makes the Legacy Collection

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is, like previous classic compilations from the development team Digital Eclipse, portion educational film, section playable historical record. The anthology contains emulated versions of the original arcade Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, and Mortal Kombat 4, including television and mobile versions of some of those games. The anthology additionally contains the brand's experiments at spinoffs, like action games Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces — among the series' least successful installments.

The Legacy Kollection thus isn't a highlight reel anthology, but a study of the franchise's initial era, when the development team Midway and series co-creators the creative duo behind the series were determining how to make a fighting game, digitized from footage of real actors, through experimentation. Observing the archival material — containing vintage recordings, new interviews, and reproductions of classic advertisements, graphic novels, and even interoffice faxes — it's incredible to witness how Mortal Kombat went from simple starts to a global sensation. It's genuinely amazing to watch a handful of pioneering developers, developing without clear direction or oversight, direct their entertainment passions into establishing an enduring gaming brand.

Documentary Portion

The educational segment of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection documents the ascent of Mortal Kombat and the developers' professional journeys at the no-longer-operating Midway. It further illustrates how these identical developers addressed how to regularly outdo their previous work, encountering significant pressure to repeat their success. It represents an intriguing historical record composed of VHS tapes and analog photographs and pencil sketches, which demonstrate the hands-on approach of the franchise's production method and how word of mouth helped disseminate its secrets and undisclosed elements of the series in its peak period in gaming halls. Presented in manageable segments, it's an eminently watchable collection of mini-documentaries that covers video games, graphic novels, movies and even the silly live-action tour. It also includes some never-implemented techniques and digital fighter representations among its archived development assets.

Interactive Experience

Distributed throughout the five-segment historical film's chronology are opportunities to engage with the actual titles. At certain intervals, audience members can jump into a Mortal Kombat title or one of its home console ports to rediscover its combat system and artistic style, simulated with remarkable precision on contemporary systems.

I spent the bulk of my time engaging with the vintage coin-op games, particularly Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Several releases here remain enjoyable, especially in local multiplayer matches. Yet competing with the artificial intelligence fighters in these releases is a testament to how primitive and unfair the programming was in the series' initial installments. Computer-directed fighters blatantly cheat to win or are alternatively incredibly stupid. If you don't have a human opponent — internet multiplayer exists in most titles in the collection, but rather basic in functionality — the experience will be incomplete.

Technical Presentation

The 23 playable Mortal Kombat games in the compilation, a combination of arcade, console, and handheld games, are faithfully recreated, though I've observed a couple minor issues — mostly input lag and the occasional bug, particularly in Mortal Kombat 4. Even though the releases are primarily displayed authentically, the development team has added several intelligent quality-of-life features and visual presentation options. For example, users can elect to show each character's special moves during gameplay and select to activate infinite time to complete lethal techniques. There are also options for unlocking secret characters, eliminating the need to execute obscure techniques to unlock them.

Graphically, the titles can be experienced with numerous filters and visual treatments. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection provides highly authentic effects that reproduce the cathode-ray tube displays of gaming halls or home televisions, or the greenscale screen of a portable gaming device. An especially welcome feature is the option to have arcade-like bezels encircling the display, with the specific combat game you're playing accurately and softly reflecting against the faux black plastic borders. It's quite aesthetically pleasing.

Bonus Elements

There are plenty of appreciated elements beyond the historical footage and recreated vintage titles, including a music player that allows users to rediscover the tunes of various fighting releases without the din of fighters brutally eliminating opponents. Additionally included are character profiles that feature histories and multiple story elements presented by the idle displays of gaming hall releases and final sequences.

Lost Media Recovery

One of the biggest highlights for dedicated series enthusiasts is the ability to access a segment of previously unavailable content in the form of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Wavenet Edition. This specific release, a slightly updated version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, was an early attempt by Midway at one-on-one internet-based play in coin-op establishments. This network version of the game is almost exactly the same to UMK3, but provided the ability to battle network competitors and featured various slight error corrections and adjustments. Yet this online edition failed to achieve popularity, in part